Tesla has raised the prices on both its Model 3 and Model Y by $1,000 in the last day, something we’ve seen time and time again over the last few years. And while it was hard to call Tesla vehicles “affordable” before, they’re certainly not affordable anymore after all these price hikes.
Earlier this month, EV maker Rivian came under heavy fire for increasing the price of its electric truck, the R1T, by over $10,000 since its debut, but the company quickly changed its mind. Of course, Tesla isn’t the only one raising prices, as supply constraints and other issues continue to hit everyone, but Tesla’s slow approach is the difference.
If you’ve been paying attention, Tesla did the same thing to the Model 3 and Model Y over the last 18-months or so. But rather than one huge price jump, we’ve seen the company slowly increase the price by $1,000 or $2,000 every few months, making the vehicles far more expensive than many expected.
While the configurations and options continue to change, making it hard to track pricing completely, here’s where things stand. The Model Y initially hit the streets with a base model offered at $47,000. However, as of today, the most affordable Tesla Model Y will run buyers $59,990. Two days ago, this same car cost $58,990, and just 4-5 months ago, the Model Y SUV was only $54,990.
Tesla no longer offers the Model Y in a standard range, making the price difference seem even more substantial. That said, the Model Y Long Range first debuted at $51,000 and now costs $59,990. That’s nearly a 15% increase, ouch.
Unfortunately, we’re seeing the same price increase today for what many expected to be Tesla’s first genuinely affordable EV, the Model 3.
Tesla increased the price so many times on the Model 3 in 2021 that we lost count, and those increases continue here in 2022 due to several different factors. Thankfully, Tesla didn’t touch the base Model 3 price today, but both the Model 3 Long Range and Performance editions received a $1,000 price raise.
The Model 3 is in a similar situation as the Model Y SUV, and on March 9th, 2022, the price went from $50,990 to $51,990. That same car was only $48k back in 2021. As a comparison, the base Model 3 first arrived for $35,000 and now costs $44,990.
Again, this isn’t necessarily Tesla’s fault. We’re merely pointing out that the promise of an affordable Tesla simply isn’t here anymore and died a while ago. Additionally, it looks like delivery dates are being pushed back, too. One Reddit user claims his Model Y Long Range order has seen four price increases since September, with the delivery date delayed twice and now not expected to arrive until April or May.
via Reddit
